FACTS FOR FARMERS.

Waikato Times, Volume VIII, Issue 412, 5 January 1875, Page 2

FACTS FOR FARMERS.

Farmers who send their fruit to market, as a rule, are unaware hovr much they lose by an indiscriminate mixture of good medium, and poor specimens in the same package. The shrewd produce dealer who purchases fruit without any attempt at sorting knows that he is going to reap from 10 to 20 per cent, solely from this cause. He carefully selects those of a uniform size and quality for each crate, thereby greatly increasing the attractions of his wares, which, after all, is the grand secret of his Buccess, and thus gains' the extra compensation which should have gone into the pockets pf the producer I recall, says a correspondent, an unusually neat market stall in one ofou.tr proving .towns, owned, by a youn? man just starting iailifo on his own account. Neatness is the leading featu^io attract customers, but the peculiar charm of jus fruits and vegetables is their careful handling and arrangement. The prices he asks do not seem high, and yet the proceeds of this stall invariably exceed all; competition I have known instances where one crate ot the selected fruit would sell for double the price of on© unselected. A. correspondent of ihe Farmer thus futnmanaes a few of the important things that housekeepers may, «rith profit, bearin n^ind : a saddle put on loosely with a slack girth, is very irritating.to a horse and soon produces a sore bock. A harness, prbyided, it is good at the start, kept soft and pliable with good neatsfoot oil will last almost a lifetime. It is stronger because slightly elastic, and will seldom wear off the hair. A horse left uncovered when-not in exercise will grow a heavy coat of coarse hair. This become ( a hindrance to rapid motion, and should be prevented by judicious blanketing. Your horse s shoes will hold on longer if the clinches are not weakened by the file in finishing. Insist that the file does not take off the end of the nail where turned over^ Some horses have a habit of stepping on one side of their feet, perhaps to avoid pressure on a hidden com. That part of the shoe exposed to severe wear should be protected with steel. All carnage shafts of right construction should allow the body of the animal perfect freedom, and Dnly touch at the wellpadded saddle, and full collar. An over-reaching horse— one whose hind feet are frequently hitting the forward shoes— should wwearr r heavy shoes forward and light ones behind. The theory is, that the heavier hoof will be thrown a little farther ahead at each step than the lighter one. «■,,„>„/ Various experiments says the Journal Horticulture, have been made by M. Feligot and others to test the value of salt as a manur«. The following summing up seems to have been arrived at : bait should never be applied other than in a pulverous state, and never employed on impervious, cold, and humid soils. The best manner to use it is to combine it with other manures a dose of two hundred weight to the acre being sufficient When selected, to destroy insects, it should be applied before sunrise In the case of cereals, salt streugthens the stems and causes the ears^to fill better, and favors the dissolution and assimilation of the phosphates and silicates. It act 9 vigorously on potatoes and can be detected in their ashes to the extent of one half or one per cent. Asparagus is a veritable glutton in the presence of salt. A dose of three cwt. per acre acts without fail on beet, injuring its value for lugar purposes, but enhancing it tor the feeding of cattle. Colza has as marked a predilection for salt as asparagus; and in Holland, where the culture of peas is so extensive, salt is something like a necessity. Mixed with hay in the proportion of four ounces to a hundredweight, the fodder is more appetizing; but the best way.to feed it to animals is to allow them to enjoy it m the form of rock salt.